Threes Playing Robot Outdoes Human Opponents

The tables have been turned – once in a legend, there was a man known as John Henry, who wanted to prove that humans are better than machines by besting a steam powered hammer. This time around, we have a machine that intends to prove it is better than humans at a mobile puzzle game known as Threes, and this unique robot does seem to be playing from a position of strength.

Game developers Walt Destler and Matthew Wegner have come together to merge their know-how in order to churn out a digital monster that is capable of playing Threes. This unique robot will calculate moves before it swipes up, down, left, or right in the game, which is a mind-bender by itself and held in high regard among players and critics.

Obtaining a high score would involve combining numbers on a four-by-four playfield, and the game like Threes also proved to be an inspiration for popular clones such as the likes of 2048. Threes is simple to play but difficult to master, and the algorithm used in the robot is anything but a pushover. The machine would first assess the playfield before it makes what it deems to be the best move. Arms and actuators were pieced together so that it can perform the physical swipes on an iPad display. This is not the first time that a machine has been used to solve a puzzle game, as evident by the CubeStormer 3.